A preschool worker accused of operating a scheme to fleece department stores of designer handbags was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Praepitcha Smatsorabudh pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August.
An investigator with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security testified Smatsorabudh would purchase authentic designer bags from department stores, including at least 226 of them from T.J. Maxx stores, then return imitation bags bought separately for refunds at the stores.
The agent testified a merchandise expert with Louis Vitton confirmed, after review, that dozens of the bags returned to T.J. Maxx were inauthentic.
Smatsorabudh would later resell the authentic bags for profit through eBay and Instagram for more than $2,000 each, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The scheme defrauded more than 60 department stores in 12 states of a total of more than $400,000, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Smatsorabudh also was ordered to pay that amount in forefeiture and in restitution to the victims.
Federal investigators said they seized at least 527 handbags from Smatsorabudh’s South Arlington Street home in Arlington, Virginia. According to their court filings, they also seized packages shipped to the Beddow Montessori School in Fort Washington, Maryland, where students' parents said Smatsorabudh taught 4-year-old children.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Smatsorabudh worked at Beddow until her first appearance in federal court earlier this year. The school declined to comment to News4 when she was formally charged.
